"It doesn't matter how cognitively impaired people are everyone has had a dog, or a chook or a guinea pig in their lives and I think it brings back those fond memories "

In just 12 months, Mr McDonald says the nursing home has built up quite a menagerie of pet therapists.

"We have three chickens (Mrs Pink and her two daughters) and [some] residents have their own pets" who live at the home according to Mr McDonald, "We try to get the [residents] to take some responsibility in caring for the pets."

The program began when Mr McDonald brought his two dogs Nora and Basil to work and noticed a positive change with the residents.

"There was a gentleman in particular who had never spoken, and the first time I brought the dogs in he beamed broadly and said 'puppy puppy puppy'!

"[Now] they're an integral part of the facility and I think we try to normalise things, to try and make it more like home," he says.

When we visit the home, Betty, a resident sits with two black Poodle-Bichon crosses on her lap smiling.

"It's nice to have something different around....I find it cheers you up. They'll sit on my lap if I want to nurse them," Betty says.

Diane Stanislow, Betty's daughter, brings around Daisy and Bruno once a week to visit.

"Mum seems to enjoy their company, and often other residents stop us as we're trying to get back to the car and have a cuddle.

"It seems to bring some joy to their time they can spend with them.

"I know a couple of the ladies here had to leave their dogs when they moved in, and that would break my heart," Diane says.

More than 20 Queensland retirement villages and aged care homes are part of the Positive Ageing in the Company of Animals project, which is designed and managed by Animal Welfare League Australia (AWLA).

Some managers of the successful pet-friendly facilities say pets contribute to community feeling, and encourage friendships between residents.

Listen to Terri Begley's report from the TriCare Nursing home at Jindalee as she speaks to residents about the program.